How To Smoke A Turkey

The last turkey I smoked was during one of our Weber product photo shoots earlier this year. It was a huge bird, and if it turned out anything like the turkey we had smoked a few days prior, it was destined to be the star of the holiday dinner scene. Sadly, I never got a bite, and worse, the turkey never even made it to the set.

It was the last shot of the day, and bad weather was moving in. We were scrambling. The real family, who was the talent of the scene, had just sat down when bam - the storm hit. In fact, it was not just a storm, it was a microburst, or rather a non-rotating tornado.

As the crew raced for cover in the backyard, our grill camp in the front drive turned to wet chaos. We dropped our pop-up tents, stashed our supplies into trucks, and got wet, real wet. Branches fell down around us, and the power went out in the neighborhood we were shooting in. To put it professionally, it was nuts.

As we waited for the weather to pass, which it finally did, the decision was made to wrap for the day. Thankfully it was not only the last shot of the day, it was the last shot of a super successful week.

As I walked back around front to survey the remains of our grill station, I found our Weber Smokey Mountain Cooker still vertical and more importantly, still smoking away. Under the lid, the turkey was to temperature. It looked beautiful, and the owners of the home we were using suddenly had dinner.

I would have taken a photo with my phone to savor the moment, but I was not the only thing drenched in water.

So here it is a few months later and what I am craving? Yeah, smoked turkey. Here’s the process, this time with great weather.

11. Grill the turkey over medium low heat, 300-350 F. As the smoker climbs towards 300 F, place the turkey on the top grate. I would recommend using an iGrill 2 to monitor the internal temperature.

12. Close the lid.

13. Open the front door panel and place no more than 2 or 3 medium chunks of wood on the hot coals. I always opt for something sweet, like apple or cherry. An aggressive species of wood can be too harsh. In this case, a little goes a long way.

14. If the fire burns too hot, close the bottom vents halfway. If you are battling cold weather, and need to keep the temperature up, add 8-10 unlit briquettes every hour.

Figure 15-18 minutes of cook time per pound. Cook until the deepest part of the thigh reads 165 F.

15. Before you carve into that beautiful bird, share your #BestTurkeyEver pictures with us!

Looking for more turkey inspiration? Be sure to check out more tips here.